Glory and Gore
by SimplyDonnie
Summary: What if Akatsuki had another female? And what if she was from a powerful clan that resided in a powerful land that coveted a powerful village? A story of blood, sex, sweat, and tears. Awful summary, but the story kicks ass.
1. The Other Female Akatsuki

Disclaimer: No more how hard I wish, I will never own Naruto or any of the characters. Only Kai and my little OC village.

Chapter 1: The Other Female Akatsuki

Darkness. That was all I saw. The rustling of bed sheets, the creaking sounds of the springs. The husky panting moans that filled the empty air. A trail of hot kisses made their way over my ear and down to the crook of my neck. I felt the strands of my hair being wound around and pulled. Harder and harder until a tiny whimper escaped my throat. Another hand, palm sweaty, traced its way down my back. I arched subconsciously and allowed my head to fall.

It was times like this when I couldn't remember and couldn't seem to care about how I'd gotten myself into this position. Some women would be crying and begging for mercy right now. Not me. I wasn't like all those other women. I was the woman who sought pleasure from pain. The woman who sought love and acceptance from lust.

Another sharp thrust and I was mewling loudly as my back gave out. I found my face buried in an array of soft sheets and pillows. Otherwise known as my grips to keep myself going completely crazy. I could feel him shift his weight onto me more. His head close to mine. His breath tickled and sent chills running up and down my spine. 'You're mine Kai.' He would tell me quietly even though we both know that can't be true. 'All mine.'

I gave into him anyways. My right hand moved to grab at his sweat matted hair while his arms moved to lock around my waist. His thrusts became faster, more panicky. As if he was afraid that this would be our last time together. We both knew that wasn't true either.

I was nearing my end as well. Short of breath and coming closer and closer to that ultimate climax. The throaty moan he gave assured me that he could feel me tightening around him. I couldn't keep quiet anymore. More like I refused to keep quiet. I wanted him to know just how perfect of a lover he was. My left hand covered one his hands. Gripping and clawing at him for dear life. It was then that I finally opened my eyes and, like a rush, it hit me. That hot sensation in the pit on my stomach that made my whole body quiver and shake beneath him. The feel of his release within me. All coming together as one.

For a second, I had almost forgotten where I was. I tried to take in the site of the room around me, but my vision was obscured by the wet silvery strands of hair in front of my face.

"Hidan." I murmured. My voice was dripping with exhaustion and ecstasy. Within the next few seconds, a heavy weight was lifted off my body and part of me felt empty inside. Without Hidan to support me, I collapsed on the bed and was left to just watch. He took a minute to recuperate before slipping back into his pants. He used his right hand to smooth his hair back and grabbed his Akatsuki cloak in his left hand. "Are you leaving now?" I asked pitifully. I knew the answer.

"Kakuzu and I…we have a mission. I just wanted a chance to fuck you before I left." It was a favor for him to actually kiss my cheek after that because usually he would just mutter a few cuss words and walk out. I guess he was feeling generous. When he did leave however, I continued to lay there in silence. I don't know exactly when it happened but sometime in between staring adamantly at the blank wall across from me and laying in my bed unable to move due to the aching of my body, I let my eyes close again and slowly I drifted right back into the darkness.

XXX

I guess, now that I'm all cleaned and not laying underneath Hidan, I should be more formal. Like for starters, my name is Kai Miashi. No, I am not dating Hidan. Yes, I am a part of Akatsuki. A _very_ special part of it.

I just joined this organization almost 6 months ago and boy, was it an eventful couple of months. I grew into a new shell when I came here. A seductive but vindictive shell.

I spent a lot of my time here honing my skills and jutsus. Battling it out with my fellow teammates and becoming stronger day by day. And at night, well, at night I was often finding myself intertwined with these same fellow teammates. Or at least a few of them. Deidara. Kakuzu. Hidan.

I was definitely not the Akatsuki whore. I had just…been pretty lonely lately. The recent events in life leading up to this point left me feeling empty inside and cold. I felt like no one was there for me and no one loved me. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't crazy and I knew that giving myself to three different men wasn't love, but at least it made me feel wanted.

If I had to be a hundred percent honest with myself however, I would say that even though I had those six, I still longed for the attention and affection of one man in particular. The same man that I was watching spar right now. That man with the long and beautiful black hair that always rested on either his back or his left shoulder. The man with the obsidian eyes and thin smooth lips that barely spoke words.

Itachi Uchiha. Itachi and I went back. Back to before I was even a member of this group. He's the one who brought me here and saved me. When I was lying in the dirt, bloody, bruised, and halfway broken. He took a chance and brought me back to this place I now knew as a safe haven.

So why didn't he ever want me? I didn't have time to think about that now. His sparring session with Kisame was over and he was leaving, which meant so was I. I was never really sure why I was so fascinated with Itachi. Of course I knew I liked him because he was strong and smart oh and devilishly handsome. But liking him wasn't the same as being fascinated with him. Seeing him gave me butterflies. Hearing his voice made my toes curl and my cheeks heat up. Don't even get me started on the time he held me close to his chest when he saved me from getting my head cut off by Hidan's runaway scythe.

In the midst of my daydreaming I ran into something hard. I looked up and my own silvery blue eyes met with Itachi's back. "Kai." He said dully.

"Y-yes Itachi." I stuttered.

"Are you going to follow me around all day? Again?" He asked.

"I'm sorry. Do you want me to go away?" Even though I knew what his answer would be. Even without him saying anything I knew that he would let me follow him around anyways. I think he enjoyed my company. Even if he acted completely disinterested.

For a moment he just stood there and then, as always, without saying anything else to me he began walking again and I followed him. It was routine for us. He would train or come back from a mission and I would lay on his bed while he showered and dressed, all done away from my line of vision of course because God forbid Itachi Uchiha be inappropriate in front of anyone, and then he would come lay with me and we would talk. Correction, I would talk. He would grunt, nod, and shake his head in response. Sometimes he'd occasionally glare at me or even give me a slight smirk.

When he did come and lay down next to me, face up and staring at the ceiling, I already knew what I wanted to ask him. "Where did Pein send Hidan and Kakuzu? I heard Suna, but I heard it from Tobi."

"Hn." And so it began.

"So it is Suna." I nodded. He closed his eyes gently and gave a swift nod to assent.

"I won't see them again for a whole week probably. You and Kisame aren't going for any missions anytime soon right?" I wondered. I hated it when Itachi went away without me.

He signed. "Kisame will be leaving on personal business. He will return shortly."

"Oh. Alright then." There was something else I wanted to say, but I wasn't quite sure how to bring it up.

"I heard Sasuke's killed Orochimaru." I decided to blurt it out. I knew all about Sasuke and Itachi. I knew about the slaughter of his clan and the sacrifice he made. Itachi was a private person, and the fact that I knew about every detail concerning this, it was proof wasn't it? That he trusted me and cared about me. Or was it just standard knowledge to everyone in our group?

Itachi remained quiet, but for the mere millisecond that it occurred I heard the hitch in his breath at his brother's mention. He himself noticed the fault in his otherwise careless expression.

"So it's true then." He said after a while.

"Indeed," I agreed, "Do you think he's gonna come for you now?"

"Hmm. Knowing my foolish little brother, he probably will come for me."

"What will you do when he does come?" Like earlier, his answer was silence. And also like earlier, I knew what it meant. Itachi would fight Sasuke, and he would die by his hand. It always saddened me to think that Itachi would die one day. It saddened me to think that all of my boys –and Konan- would die one day. Of course if I had it my way, they would never die. I would continue to heal them until every ounce of healing power was drained from my own body. Until we were all old and decrepit and withered away peacefully.

"I don't want you to leave me Itachi." I whispered quietly.

"Kai."

"I know." I replied quickly. "I know this has been your plan from day one and I'm not…I'm not, special, enough to change it, but I still think Sasuke deserves to know the truth. That way you and he could spend time together and you could-"

"Enough." The dark haired man sighed. "You sound ridiculous Kai. I've told you several times that I," he paused abruptly to cough painfully the result being a bloodied hand. And there was the other problem. Itachi was sick. He was very sick. And it was killing him. I wasn't at all sure which would kill him faster. His sickness or Sasuke. Most times he was able to control it, but it was times like this when it was entirely too built up inside him to be contained anymore.

"Why won't you just let me heal you?" My voice was heavy with sadness. "If I healed you, you could live longer to be killed by Sasuke." And now my voice was laced with bitterness. His obsidian eyes narrowed into slits as he glared at me. He sat up and swung his legs over the edge on the bed. Resting his elbow on his thigh and his mouth in his palm. Part of me wanted to get up and sit behind him. Another part of me wanted to kiss his neck and nibble on his shoulder. I slowly made my way over to him deciding that the naughtier side of me would win this battle. Just a little bit closer.

" _Kai. My office."_ I knew that voice in my head. It was Pein. Dammit. All I wanted was a kiss.

"I'm leaving Itachi." I told him settling for just running my fingers through his ponytail. "I will see you later."

XXX

My meeting with Pein had me running a mission of my own. I was to go out and gather intelligence on Konoha. This was usually Zetsu's department, but he was already gathering intelligence on other power villages and Pein and Konan both agreed that I was best for the job. Zetsu was good, but I was from Tsugakure, and on top of that, the Miashi clan. My village specializes in things like this among many other things.

I was standing on the top of the barrier wall of Konoha. My eyes scanned every sector of this quaint, and temporarily peaceful village. It was bolstering with excitement and happiness. It reminded me of my childhood days in my own village with my uncle.

 _-Flashback-_

 _Hanari Sensei had just released us from class. My short legs were moving as fast as they could to carry me to my Uncle Shiori's house. I already knew what was waiting for me. A bowl stuffed fool of Soba noodles and a series of hugs and head kisses._

 _I was so excited when I finally arrived at his home that I accidentally tripped over the step and banged my chin on the ground. 'Oh well,' I thought, 'just another bruise to add to my collection.' I heard the door slide open and my little eyes followed the sound._

 _My uncle was a pretty tall man and he had short dirty blonde hair. His almond shaped green eyes always reminded me of a beautiful grass field._

" _Well hello there kitten." He chuckled. A cat. He thought I resembled a cat. The way that I kept myself and didn't willingly ever want to associate with others. It's not that I didn't want to, more so that the others didn't want me to talk to them. "Hm," he pondered upon seeing the fresh blood on my chin, "looks like you've gone and banged yourself up again. Come on inside. I've got band aids and soba noodles for you." He said smiling. His smile. It was always so warm, it practically radiated._

 _My uncle's house was the same place where I always came when I got a bruise, and trust me, I got a lot of them. See, the other kids, and sometimes the adults, liked to tease me and bully me because I'm the weak Miashi. I haven't tapped into any of that awesome chakra that the rest of my lineage has. I can barely perform a transformation jutsu and my taijutsu is barely passable for anything natural. Uncle said I was just 'a late bloomer'. My father didn't really call it anything, he just sighed, shook his head, and told me to work harder. I decided that for him I would call it 'being a failure'. That's what he meant anyways, he was just too nice to say it._

 _The same way he was too nice to tell me it was my fault I'd gotten beaten up yesterday by some of the village boys. I'd come to my uncles for those bruises too. They'd hurt and they were still very present on my face. When he'd attempted to heal them, I'd objected. I always told myself that I would keep my bruises no matter how ashamed they made me feel. The shame would build up to strength. I would get stronger someday and no one would ever bully me again. My uncle thought it was the way of a true shinobi._

 _Once my chin was cleaned and bandaged I was given the noodles that I was promised and like every day that I spent with my uncle, I found it incredibly hard to stop smiling. It was times like this that I found my tiny brain trying to figure out what I would do if I ever lost this man, my best friend._

 _-End of Flashback-_

I found out what I would do….I would kill anyone and everyone responsible…and I did.

XXX

Author's Note: Don't let the 'sexiness' of this story fool you. Kai is a very complex character with a million different personalities. This is merely the premise to start building her character. I have been working on this story for a little bit, so I have up to 8 chapters that are ready to be posted so I will continue posting them. Please review and tell me what you think!


	2. Sad Eyed AkatsukiDeal with the Devil

Disclaimer: No more how hard I wish, I will never own Naruto or any of the characters. Only Kai and my little OC village.

Chapter 2: The Sad Eyed Akatsuki and the Deal with the Devil

Author's Note: And with this chapter, our story truly begins and we see yet another side of our star.

Naruto Uzumaki was laying on his bed in his tiny, lonely apartment. Right now he was finding the ceiling to be really attractive. He found ceilings quite attractive now a days actually. What with Sasuke still gone and him not being able to keep his promise to Sakura, again, he was feeling particularly crappy about himself more and more every day.

Despite how heavy his limbs felt he dragged himself out of bed and pulled on his jumpsuit. The room was beginning to suffocate him and he needed as much fresh air as possible.

So it was without hesitation that he found himself bounding endlessly from rooftop to rooftop with no real motive for his actions. He didn't know what he wanted to achieve from this or when he would quit. All he knew was that he liked feeling his legs moving beneath him. It reminded him that he wasn't as dead as he felt.

Naruto idly wondered what Sakura was doing right now. Was she thinking about him? About how hard he was working for her? Or was she only thinking about Sasuke? Crying over Sasuke? The thought only made his heart heavier. _'She wouldn't be crying if you weren't too weak to bring him home.'_ He thought angrily.

"Dammit." He hissed through gritted teeth. Without warning to the rooftops or the ground, the blonde jinchuriki changed direction and headed off towards the training field. He needed to expel some anger and frustration that he had with himself.

His legs were moving so fast now that everything was a blur to him. His hands balled into fists as he neared his target. The middle wooden post. The same one he was tied to during his first training session with Kakashi. He drew back his fast and his jaw locked as he punched the defenseless and innocent post with everything he had. The wood split and shattered onto the ground emitting a cloud of dust.

Naruto could feel the warm trickle of blood that slowly dripped down his knuckles. Only a portion of his frustrations were appeased. The rest of his frustrations would come out in tears he realized as his knees gave way to the ground and the shameless sobs were ripped from his throat. In his moment of grief, he hadn't heard the dark figure that looked over him now approach.

He took a moment through his blurry eyes to analyze the figure. It didn't seem exactly menacing, but it didn't come with the feeling of good luck either. He whipped his body around and gasped at the person. It was a woman. A woman standing before him in the Akatsuki cloak. Her eyes were fixated on the spot where his tears had landed. She was barely paying attention to him. "Naruto Uzumaki." She muttered.

"What? How do you know me?! I've never seen you before!"

"Think Naruto. I'm in the Akatsuki, I know more about you than you'd like me to." Her tone of voice. It sounded like she was only half interested in their conversation. Like she was listening, but not really listening.

"I supposed you're here to fight or something? Try to destroy the village and kidnap me for your sick plans!" Naruto accused. He waited impatiently for the girl to answer and while he waited, he took in her vision. She wasn't but so tall. She couldn't have been more than 5"4'. Her strange hair that hung down to her waist. It was the color of dirty blonde with silvery tones that stood out the most at the ends. Her eyes shine brightly in the darkness and he can see that they too are silver with little bright specks of blue. He's not sure what attire she wore under her cloak but he can see her hands. Her tiny hands and her nails that were painted a soft lilac color.

She didn't look anything like an Akatsuki. The most of them looked creepy or inhuman. The others, they may have looked normal, but they always had that twinkle in their eye. The twinkle that read 'I'm a psychopath, hear me roar.' Her eyes however, her eyes did not give way to such twinkle. Instead he saw sadness and wonder. It's like her eyes were trying to tell him that she was lost and she didn't really know what she was doing with that particular group, but she wanted help. She wanted to be found. She-

"Stop staring at me." She bit. Naruto blinked a few times pulling himself away from her hypnotic orbs and then sprung to his feet ready in his fighting stance.

"Answer me!" He growled. "Are you here to take me and destroy Konoha?" He repeated the question and finally the woman looked up. She looked exhausted and like she would pass out and fall asleep at any minute.

"Relax," was all she said at first, "I was simply sent here to gather more Intel. I'll be sent back to destroy everything at a later day probably, but right now, well, I've used up too much of my visual prowess and it's left me drained. I'm in no fighting condition so you can lower your guard." Visual prowess? The only people Naruto knew of that had a visual prowess was Kakashi Sensei and…Sasuke. She certainly didn't look like an Uchiha. He glanced at the headband on her forehead. She was from that new village. Or not so much new as it was just rediscovered. The village within energy. The village that could supposedly beat out Konoha with one arm tied behind its back. The village that inhabited shinobi who had all mastered at least three chakra natures. In other words, he was in trouble. Drained or not, she was still dangerous.

"What do your eyes do?" He asked carefully lowering his stance but never lowering his guard.

"My eyes," she started, "they became a stark white and much like the byukugan and the sharingan they allow me to see _everything_. But, they also give me the ability to look into people's minds and communicate with them. To control their brain. Similar to the mind transfer jutsu of your Yamanaka clan. It also allows me to enhance my battle technique by at least double the strength. However, its side effects can be temporary paralysis if used too much. Other side effects are like now, exhaustion, weak state, vulnerability."

Vulnerability. She said it so casually as if she wanted him to know she was wide open right now. He could slit her throat with a kunai and there would be one less Akatsuki to worry about. Was she testing him?

"I know you won't hurt me." She said as if she'd been reading his thoughts. Her eyes were still the same silvery blue though so maybe he'd just been obvious. "Sit down Naruto. I'd like to speak with you. My friend, Deidara, he says you're pretty good. Strong. Tell me what it is that drives you."

"Ha yea right! Like I'd sit down with you! You're the enemy! Drained or not, I don't trust you!" Even though Naruto was shouting about how he didn't trust her, he couldn't find the will to make himself leave. There was something about her eyes. They just kept drawing him in.

"Hey what's up with your eyes? They look…sad."

"Sad? I guess you could say I'm sad. Rough life. Can you agree?" She asked him. He pondered it. He knew he didn't have to, but he did anyways.

"Yea. Really rough."

"Tell me about it, I wanna know."

"Well," Naruto said before he knew what was wrong with him. "When I was younger everyone in the village always treated me like I was an outsider, like I was the bane of their existence, like I didn't have feelings! I was lonely and…and there was only one other kid who even halfway acknowledged me! Who understood how I felt, how lonely I was! He was-is- my best friend and now he's gone and no matter how hard I train, no matter how much stronger I get, it seems like I can never catch up to him to bring him back and I feel like such a failure!"

"Failure." She said plainly once he was finished venting. "See Naruto, don't you feel better now? Destroying that wood and crying wasn't all you needed. You needed someone to listen." Naruto looked at her like she was insane. He saw that her eyes had closed and she was smiling gently at him. Warmly, almost friendly.

"Stop acting like you care." He gritted.

"Tch," she spat, "I'm not acting Naruto. I do care. If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked. Now, do you wanna know why I'm being so nice to you or not?"

"Well…yea." He admitted. Who wouldn't wanna know why this Tsugakure Akatsuki nin was being nice to him?

"It's because like I said, I've had a rough life too. I was bullied and treated like dirt when I was a kid and it always made me feel a little bit better at the end of every day to know that I had at least one person who cared. I'm not here to hurt you, or Konoha, Naruto. That isn't my job and I'll make sure it's never my job. I'm just here as a curious little spectator." She smiled again. That same gentle and warm smile from before. It was beautiful. Almost as beautiful as Sakura when she smiled at him.

"Are you really with the Akatsuki?" He asked. By now he was convinced she was either a really good prankster or just absolutely morally confused.

"I am." So morally confused it was. "Naruto, I could probably never go back to my village. I've done too much shame to my family and even if everyone saw the light and forgave me, I would still feel anger and bitterness towards them for all the pain they caused me. I could never return to Tsugakure. And if I don't return to my village then I'll be a missing nin and that means I can't just roam around any village and settle down wherever I choose regardless of how powerful I am. So, I teamed up with the Akatsuki and I'm actually quite happy there. I know what you're thinking, but not all of them are bloodthirsty animals."

"Yea right." Naruto muttered. The blonde haired, blue eyed ninja isn't exactly sure when it happened, but he noticed that he was sitting down alongside the sad eyed girl. He was positive that if anyone from the village had seen this they'd think he was probably in cahoots or hopefully just assume he'd been using the girl as a spy.

"Naruto. I have to leave now. It's really late and I'm really quite exhausted. Maybe we'll see each other again someday soon. If not, then I wish you all the best of luck."

Before Naruto could even think to reply to the girl, she was gone and he found himself very dizzy. He didn't even make it back to his room before he passed out.

XXX

When I returned to the hideout part of me felt shamed. I'd just spent the last half hour forcing myself not to use that kid to tell Sasuke the truth about his brother and get him to drop his deadly vendetta against Itachi.

Itachi would have been so mad at me, but I feel like it would have been worth it. Sasuke deserved to know about his messed up village and his older brother's sacrifice. Whatever. What's not done will just remain undone? I was lounging around with Tobi and Zetsu. Two of the members I didn't sleep with on occasion. Not that Zetsu couldn't be found somewhat attractive in his own inhumane way and Tobi couldn't possibly be appealing with his mysterious ora and lack of common sense. I just didn't favor them sexually. And I got enough want out of them just being my friends. Besides, I wasn't all that sure that Tobi was mentally capable or mentally old enough to go down that road.

My lids were heavy and I was using these two as pillows and leg props because the walk upstairs just seemed like too much. Tobi was softly stroking my hair while the TV hummed softly. Nothing worthwhile or interesting was on.

" _Kai. What intel have you to report on Konoha?"_ Dammit Pein.

"Well they're obviously onto us. Security measures are high. Not too high that I couldn't get through clearly, but still. The jinchuriki." My voice was loaded with weariness and part of me wondered if I would fall asleep in the middle of my sentence. "He's pretty easy to get to. I sat next to him. Spoke to him. Pein, I will not bring harm to Naruto Uzumaki or Konohagakure. That will be left to you and Konan."

" _So be it."_ Pein and I had a special relationship. He understood that I was powerful enough to take him on and possibly –if with enough effort- win. He didn't want to chance that. And he trusted me on a level that he didn't trust the others. We shared the same common goal. We were equals. I just had a different method to some of my goals.

XXX

Karin watched through a crack in the door as Sasuke Uchiha sat quietly on the floor, in the center of the room. She knew what he was doing. He was training. Again. Honing his lightning jutsus. Again. He was ignoring her. Again. He was so obsessed with killing his brother that it was honestly starting to make her a little crazy.

Anytime he called on her, it was usually just to seek out Itachi. Never once bothering to say thank you or show her any means of gratitude. But even despite all that she knew she'd still help him, regardless. Because she loved him. Even if he himself couldn't see that.

"Karin." She heard. She'd been caught obviously. "Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna say something?" So brash. He was always so rude when he spoke, and that was to anyone.

Karin brushed it off though. She opened the door fully and slid her glasses off her face slowly. "Sasuke," she cooed, "it's really late and you've been working very hard. You should come to bed now." She couldn't help the tone of her voice, the alluring and sultry look in her eyes and the red tint to her cheeks. It was her way of letting him know her emotions. She watched as Sasuke's blurred vision stood and began walking towards her. He stopped only when his shoulder was align with hers.

"Give it a break Karin." He said. No. She would not give it a break. She'd been giving it a break since the day he saved her from that runaway prisoner.

"Sasuke, wait!" She called out grabbing the sleeve of his shirt. "Don't ignore me Sasuke! Look at me, I'm cute aren't I? Why can't you give me the time of day?" The red haired girl pouted while crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hn. Goodnight Karin." Sasuke said nothing more, did nothing more. He simply walked off and into his room. Karin scoffed to herself while shoving her glasses back on to her face. She was tired of the younger Uchiha playing hard to get. Never had someone made her feel so ugly about herself. Well, no. That wasn't entirely true if she counted her entire childhood.

"Well, well, the skank strikes again." A voice said. The same voice that came with many headaches and heartburn.

"What the hell do you want Suigetsu?" She gritted.

"Oh nothing really. Just watching Sasuke reject you…again!" The young swordsman burst into a fit of laughter that sent Karin into a rage. Before she knew it she had spun on her heel and tackled the razor sharp toothed boy to the group where she continued to pummel his face. Much to her dislike, it didn't affect him in the least. He just continued laughing.

"Shut up before you make Sasuke mad!" Karin hissed. "You idiot! You're so loud!" Suigetsu finished off a few more laughs before his voice began to die down until he was merely grinning. His eyes wandered and observed the position they were in. Him lying on the floor, Karin, straddling him.

"Ya know Karin," he whispered, "I peg Sasuke to be a real…jealous and possessive guy. If you really wanna know how he feels about you, you should try flirting with other guys in front of him."

Karin stared emotionless down at her white haired associate. She hated to admit it, but maybe he was right. Sasuke did appear to have that 'I hate sharing my toys' attitude. And it would be a great way for her to find out his true feelings. There was only one problem.

"Who am I supposed to flirt with? We barely ever come into contact with other people so the only other males are you and Jugo." Jugo is too mentally unstable to handle the charade and far too loyal to Sasuke, so that only left...no.

Karin's whole body shuddered with disgust causing Suigetsu's grin to widen. "So you finally figured it out huh? Took ya long enough. Heh, and you're supposed to be the smart one."

"You sicko!" She exclaimed quietly while hitting him yet again. Karin quickly removed herself from Suigetsu's body and huddled against the wall across from him. The boy rolled over onto his side and stared at her. "Suigetsu, you and I hate each other! Sasuke isn't stupid enough to fall for that!"

"Ugh, okay really Karin. You give this _way_ too much credit! And we could totally pull it off! I just want to help you…ya know, so you can be happy and crap." He shrugged. Karin's red eyes narrowed at him.

"Happy and crap? No way. I don't believe it. There's no way you're trying to help me! What's in it for you?!" She demanded.

"Oh well I'm hurt! I can't believe you don't think I'm capable of doing something nice for you just out of the kindness of my heart!" He said dramatically. He couldn't even hold the façade for more than 15 seconds. "Nah you're right. If I do this, you have to be my servant for the rest of our adventure together."

"Month." Karin challenged.

"Deal."

"Really? That was surprisingly easy."

"I was just surprised that you actually agreed to bargain with me, so I figured I better take it while my chances are still good." Karin rolled her eyes at him and stood up.

"Hey Karin, where ya going?" He asked in a slight sing song voice.

"Um, to my room, idiot." She spat.

"Oh I don't think so. Your room is my room tonight. Think about it. Sasuke just rejected you again and you're feeling vulnerable and angry. Who better to come to for a night of revenge sex than yours truly?" Even though he made a good case Karin couldn't help but to feel sick to her stomach. She'd just made a deal with the devil.

XXX

The next morning was a travesty. All night long Karin had to suffer through Suigetsu's maniacal laughter and even worse his consistent hair pulling. It was his idea that she had to play the part of a freshly laid female. So that also included him ripping the button off her shorts, which now refused to stay zipped up.

To make matters worse as if by some struck of bad luck or maybe good luck, she'd walked face first into Sasuke's chest this morning when she was leaving Suigetsu's room. She could feel her whole face turn as red as her hair and eyes and she felt like crawling under a rock and never coming back out.

"Uh, g-good morning Sasuke." She muttered nervously. The raven haired boy narrowed his eyes at her.

"Karin," he said, "what are you doing in Suigetsu's room?"

"Oh I was just leaving!" She exclaimed probably quicker than she needed to.

"Leaving," she heard the other boy chime in, "from a very blissful night I might add." Suigetsu was soon upon them with his arm lazily draped across Karin's shoulders. A grin focused on Sasuke who merely stared at the two of them possibly with what may have been disgust.

"Blissful?" Sasuke muttered. "Whatever happened between you two last night, better not interfere with my plans. Make yourselves decent, we're leaving." A quiet silence rose between the three of them after Sasuke finished. He stared back and forth between the two of them slightly before walking off, probably to get Jugo. As soon as Karin was sure Sasuke was out of ear shot she snatched away from Suigetsu.

"Blissful!?" She hissed. "Really Suigetsu?!"

"What? It's gotta be believable Karin. And hey, speaking of believable, you need to act normal. Ya know, be your usual bitchy annoying self." Bitchy? And annoying?

"How dare you! I am neither of those things! If anyone here is annoying it's you! All you ever do is complain and whine, complain and whine!"

"Hey shut up won't you? You don't want your precious Sasuke hearing us, the whole plan will be ruined and I'll lose out on a servant." Suigetsu yawned.

Karin stared idly at him. Why had she agreed to this? Clearly she'd lost her mind. Suigetsu was not trust worthy, he was not honorable, and he sure as hell wasn't mentally stable. Maybe even less so than Jugo. She couldn't help but to scoff at him with a roll of her eyes. She turned away from the boy and began making her way down the hall to shower and as Sasuke said 'clean herself up.' She could only imagine how long of a day she had ahead of her.


	3. Playing Catchup With the News

Disclaimer: No more how hard I wish, I will never own Naruto or any of the characters. Only Kai and my little OC village.

Chapter 3: Playing Catchup with the News

Kakuzu was growing irritably tired of his partner. All the man ever did was bitch and complain. Oh and not to mention go on and on about his God, Jashin. Sometimes he wished that when he did things like strangle the Jashinist, or dismember the Jashinist that the man would actually die, but unfortunately, he was too faithful.

"How much fucking longer before we get to this damn temple!?" The silver haired man yelled from behind him. Once again Kakuzu ignored him. He'd been ignoring him all day. He couldn't figure out why the hell his parents didn't teach him when to shut the hell up.

"Hey Kakuzu! Don't ignore me you ignorant ass! I know you hear me! Kakuzu! Kakuzu."

"Shut up Hidan!" Kakuzu yelled finally cracking. "You've asked me the same question a million times! We are almost there! Shut the hell up and if you open your mouth again I'm gonna sew it shut!"

Hidan stopped in his tracks and looked at Kakuzu. He was offended. All he had done was ask a simple question. Kakuzu was always such a tight ass. He held his tongue, he decided it wasn't worth pissing Kakuzu off again because he probably would sew his mouth shut and then nobody would be happy. Well at least Hidan wouldn't.

The walk to the temple seemed to drag on and on in the unbearable silence. Hidan's mind began to wander. What would he do when he returned to the hideout? Hm, he would go find Kai and sleep with her again. She was the perfect distraction. Thinking about her long, soft hair. The smell of her skin. The feel of her round breast cupped in his hands. Her-

"Hidan, we're here." Kakuzu said pulling him from his fantasies. A large temple sat ahead of them. The people were already on alert. Running around scrambling and scurrying. Hidan could feel the adrenaline rushing through his veins as he watched all the sacrifices running for their lives and trying to protect their precious leader or whatever. He didn't care. He only cared for the blood, the pain, and the sweet release it gave him.

XXX

"Mmm Deidara." I moaned. I could feel the vibrations of his throat against my neck. Our slick skin meshed together as he thrusted inside of me at a quick steady pace. His damp blonde locks tied between my fingers. There was something these Akatsuki. Sex with them was like hours of delicious pain. Pain that you didn't want to give up. Pain that they were glad to give you. They were just so good at what they did. Everything they did.

"Ah Dei!" I remember the first time I'd ever gotten involved with Deidara. It was a pure spur of the moment. Nothing like my first with Hidan _and_ Kakuzu had basically pinned me in a corner and lured me into bed with them. Deidara and I were the same age. Nineteen. So naturally at first I was drawn to him-not as much as Itachi- but still. He and I were on a mission together. Sasori had stayed behind by Pein's orders and the blonde haired man had shown me his explosive clay. Somewhere in between blowing up small cities and empty land fields, I'd realized a few things about Deidara.

One, he was really attractive. Two, he was funny in a psychotic type way. And three, aside from his psychotic explosive nature, his personality was really quite caring and charming to be around. After discovering that, we both discovered that hidden caves in the forests were a Godsend and that it was very possible to have sex until neither of you could move.

I felt Deidara's lips crash down on me in a heated kiss. One of his hands slid under me and stayed itself on the small of my back, my hips bucked against him begging for my release. My hands moved down to his arms. Digging my nails into pale skin. We were in sync now with our thrusts and we were in sync when we came undone with one another.

Deidara rested on top of me for another minute before rolling over onto his back. I took this moment of quiet as an opportunity to catch my breath. Not long after I hugged the sheets to my chest, rolled over, and began playing with Dei's hair.

"I'm really glad Kakuzu sewed your arms back in." I said quietly. "Well," I added, "your arm and another arm."

"No kidding, hn." He smirked. "He's gonna have to sew Hidan's head back on by the time they get back from their mission."

"Deidara," I couldn't help the small tug at the corners of my lips, "don't say that about Hidan. He'll be fine. He's not as wreck less as you think." That was a lie. I knew it was a lie, but I felt like it needed to be said.

"Oh Kai." The blue eyed man said rolling over to snuggle against me. "Don't defend that dick. Hn, Hidan, he's such an asshole, yeah." I wonder what he say if he knew Hidan and I are been together only mere days before we were.

"Why do you hate him so much? I thought you liked Hidan."

"I like Hidan about as much as I like Tobi. That idiot, yeah." I guess asking him that was a stupid question. From the very day Hidan was introduced into Akatsuki, Deidara didn't seem to like him. Maybe that was because he saw the spark of interest in Hidan's eyes when he saw me. Maybe it's because he figured Kakuzu would find some kind of delight in sexually "torturing" me with his new partner. I guess I could understand Deidara's jealousy, I technically belonged to him first. Then Kakuzu decided he was horny and stole me away and then Hidan came into the picture and between the possessiveness of those two Deidara and I barely ever got a moment to ourselves.

So it was only natural for him to pounce on me the minute those two had left. Aside from Deidara's hatred of those two he also hated many others but mainly Itachi. He hated Kisame, Zetsu, and especially Tobi when they did things like compliment me or hug me. He hated Itachi most of all. He already had a prior disliking for the older Uchiha when he lost his fight against him, but he hates even more now because he's well aware of my feelings for him.

"Deidara. I have to go. I need to shower and I'm starving." I told him. Deidara proceeded to groan. "No." He said.

"Dei. Please let go of me." I said sweetly.

"Fine." Deidara's grip around my body slipped away only to be replaced by his knees against my sides as he straddled me. "If I have to let you go," he purred into my ear and he planted kisses along my jawline, "let it be after we roll around _one more time._ " Before I could even protest I felt him push him into me. And with it all my will crumbled.

XXX

Naruto was having a bit of trouble focusing on his training today. He couldn't shake the weird memories from his talk with that Akatsuki woman. He didn't even know her name and yet everything she said was stuck in his head.

' _Is she really like me? Could we share the same past?'_ He questioned. It was the fifteenth time today that he'd asked himself this question.

"Naruto!" His head snapped up. "You look…distracted. Maybe you should take a break." Kakashi Sensei suggested.

"No!" Naruto exclaimed. "I can't give up! Not yet Sensei! I know I can do it, I just-"

"Naruto. I think it's time for you to call it quits for today. I have some bad news for you." The words 'bad news' made all of Naruto's focus center on the white haired man then. He'd had his share of bad news in his lifetime and he always knew that bad news meant terrible news. Possibly, catastrophic news.

"What happened?" He asked quietly.

Kakashi stared at his student and he felt remorseful for him. He hated to be the bearer of bad news especially since it was so common for Naruto.

It was with a hung head and a heavy sigh that he continued to tell him the somber news. "Asuma…is dead."

XXX

The funeral was like many of the other funerals Naruto had been to. Sad, filled with crying people, rainy, dark clouds, and overly depressing. Naruto felt like this was all just some big sick joke. How could it even be possible? He was just speaking to Asuma a few days ago. The man was giving him tips on how to control his wind nature.

Now he was buried six feet under. Alone. Cold. Without his cigarette. The blonde boy looked to his left and down the line he could see the long blonde haired girl weeping softly over the loss of her Sensei. Next to her was the brown haired shinobi. Choji, he wasn't even eating. If there was anyone who was taking it harder than anyone else, it was Shikamaru. He wasn't here, but Naruto knew. He could the heartache in the pit of his soul. He felt bad for his comrade. Shikamaru had a special bond with the deceased man. Asuma was like his second father, or maybe an uncle.

Regardless of the bond they had, they were close. When the funeral was over Naruto retreated to his apartment where he lay in his bed. Sadness has swept over him and it was all consuming. He couldn't think of anything else to do. But weep. Stare blankly ahead. Weep. And finally sleep.

His sleep wasn't peaceful. He was too angry. _"It was Akatsuki."_ He remembered hearing those words. Asuma was killed by Akatsuki. The Akatsuki woman that had visited him just nights before the murder. Had it all been a lie? What had she really done to him? Was she apart of this? He needed answers. But how? He didn't even know her name. He couldn't tell anyone he just sat there with her and talked to her. What was he to do? Damn life could be hard sometimes.

XXX

The rain was coming down harder as usual and running through it had no longer been an option. Settling in a cave to camp for the night, my teammates and I are sitting on our sleeping bags making quiet conversation. I couldn't really focus on the topic at hand then. I was worried more about being angry at the rain for pouring down as hard as it was. It was stopping us from our mission and that was something I could not tolerate. At least not for this mission. This one was way too important and the rain was sure to wash away any traces we had. This was impossibly imperfect timing.

"Ayame?" I heard Norio, one of my teammates say. My eyes glanced over at the light blue haired boy. I could see the concern for me in his eyes. His kind beautiful eyes.

"I'm fine Norio." I lied. I was not fine. I was getting more and more anxious as the time passed by. I wouldn't be able to sleep under these conditions and if I didn't sleep, I knew tomorrow would never come fast enough.

"Liar," another voice sneered. That voice belonged to my other and far my annoying teammate, Yoshi. "You been moping all day Ayame, get a grip." Yoshi and I never got along. Didn't get a long as kids, not in the academy, and especially not when we were assigned to the same team. I'm quite sure that we probably hated each other as fetuses too.

"Leave her alone Yoshi. This is a very stressful mission for Ayame. She has a lot riding on it." My sensei, Takami said. She was a nice, yet lethal woman. Her smile was always kind and she always watched out for me and defended me against Yoshi. She knew the kind of demon the black, scraggly haired, red eyed boy truly was. The mission that I had been assigned was indeed very stressful.

I had been sent out in search of my older sister, Kai Miashi, who was wanted for murdering our Kikage. I was sent out on this because despite the fact that I love my sister to death and would do anything to protect her, I also have to protect the rest of my clan from being slaughtered. I was given the ultimatum of bringing in my sister to be put to death, or not bringing her in which would prove that the entire clan was guilty by association –for plotting to overthrow the new Kikage, take over the village, and cause mass war between the six great nations- and we would all be cuffed in chakra chains and killed out one by one. It was a painful decision, but also an easy one.

I refused to let my clan fall because two of us had a bad day. I knew, the moment I saw her, the moment I got my chance I had to take it. I had to kill her. And every time I thought about it, it always brought new tears to my eyes. I knew that's what I had to do, but I also knew that she was my best friend, my family, my blood. I remember when we were younger and Kai and I would always play tag and I could never run. I would always be chasing after her and either one of two things would happen. It would be time for dinner and papa or mama would call us in to eat, or I would get so close before my legs gave out and I gave up. Kai was so much faster than me. Why could I never catch her? I worked hard and I trained my legs everyday so that I could become faster, but no matter what I could never catch up to her. I was tasked with the utterly impossible.

XXX

Sasuke had no idea what was going or when this little infatuation between Karin and Suigetsu had begun, but one he did know, was that he didn't like it. It was annoying. It was foreign to him. Not that he cared that Karin had apparently moved on, but with Suigetsu of all people? He liked it better when they were always fighting. That was so much more tolerable than them constantly making googly eyes at each other and cooing about how 'in love' with each other they were.

He could feel Jugo's comfortability levels going down as well. Every now and then he would give Sasuke a side way glance and Sasuke would glance back only to see Jugo's normally calm face composed with worry and confusion. Sasuke merely told him to ignore the two and keep going but Jugo couldn't ignore it. It was hard to ignore it. When Suigetsu would start a sentence off with 'I really like when you' and then whisper in her ear, and she would giggle, the other two's stomachs would flip and flop all about. Or when he would start off a sentence with 'we should do' and then whisper in her ear, and she would giggle, Sasuke's eyes would roll almost all the way to the back of his head and Jugo would lurch forward and try his hardest to keep his lunch down.

Eventually they all agreed to stop for a break and this was even more mortifying than anything else that had happened. The redhead and the mist nin were cuddled up together against a tree. Their fingers intertwined and their eyes locked solely on each other. It was almost like they were in a whole other world. Once again, Suigetsu leaned into Karin's ear and whispered sweet nothings between gently kissed her earlobe. Sasuke watched as her cheeks tinted a slight pink and she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and said 'Oh Suigetsu.' What Sasuke misunderstood was that Karin's hand was not gentle and her 'oh Suigetsu' was actually 'ugh Suigetsu.' But he was entirely too blinded by his disgust of their romance.

' _What the hell does she see in Suigetsu? He's lazy, he's weird, and he's annoying.'_ The rogue ninja thought. _'Hmph, they won't last long. She'll be crawling all over me again in no time.'_ Wait, what? What the hell was wrong with him? Was he actually experiencing a mild jealously over this fact? Was Sasuke Uchiha seething on the inside over a mere woman? And a woman like Karin at that. No. He decided he wasn't seething, he was merely experiencing delusions from the sickness of the situation that was over coming him.

"Hey Sasuke!" Oh gosh, now they were speaking to him. "Ya know, all this time I thought Karin was just this annoying little red haired bitch, but she's actually pretty hot. Well, when she's not talking. I gotta tell you, you missed out, and I'm quite glad that I gave this whole thing a chance."

 _Missed_ _out?_ No. Sasuke Uchiha, never misses out on anything.

"Hn, whatever." He snorted turning his head away from the two of them. "Suigetsu, Jugo, Karin, we're leaving. We've stopped for long enough."

Jugo nodded and quickly jumped to his feet to follow behind Sasuke as he began disappearing through the trees.

Suigetsu was preparing to take off after the other two members of Hebi when he heard Karin calling him back.

"Just a few things Suigetsu." She started. "One, don't ever, _ever_ kiss me again. Two, Sasuke doesn't seem jealous, he just seems…like Sasuke. This isn't working!" She exclaimed.

"Oh c'mon Karin, did you not see his facial expression like oh I don't know, all day!? He's dying inside! Maybe not as much as Jugo, but slowly and surely he's being killed by our affection." Suigetsu laughed. "It's ripping him apart!" Karin rolled her eyes at the boy, he truly was ridiculous. Nothing he ever did make sense. Not even this plan. She wasn't convinced and Sasuke didn't seem convinced either. He actually seemed…mad. She heard the way he'd said her name when he told them all to leave. _'Karin.'_ He'd said. It was full of malice and venom. It was like he was angry with her for trying to fool him and in such an undignifying way. Yes, she'd made her decision she was giving up. She'd just have to find another way to make Sasuke love her.

XXX

Author's Note: Things in the story are going to move particularly fast and with very little filler chapters, but I will try to get as much emotion in there so you can still get a sense of how the characters are feeling.


	4. Secret's Out, You're Cool With Akatsuki!

Disclaimer: No more how hard I wish, I will never own Naruto or any of the characters. Only Kai and my little OC village.

Chapter 4: Secret's Out, You're Cool with Akatsuki

Author's Note: Guys, I'm not good with fight sequences, like at all, forgive me.

Kai felt like she was racing against time, which technically she was, but this time she feared that she wouldn't make it. The rapid thumping in her chest it was from the anxiety building up in her at the thought, the mere thought of losing them. Kakuzu and Hidan. When Pein had told her what had happened, how south things were going for her two teammates she'd gone running to find and save them.

From the minute he walked out of her room she'd known danger was rising. Of course it was always rising when one of them went out on a mission because no matter how strong they were there was always a possibility that it could be their last mission. She was adamant about this not being their last mission. She needed them. They were two of the missing pieces that were making her feel whole again. They were her lovers, her teammates, but most importantly her friends.

She remembered the arguments she and Hidan had. The laughs and sinister jokes they told each other. She remembered the financial lessons from Kakuzu, which was one of the only times that she could truly see his human side. Such affection and care when he talked about money. God that man loved his money. She refused to let those good times stop here. She would bring both of them back no matter what happened. Leaping from tree branch to tree branch she paused only for a minute to close her eyes and search the land for their familiar chakra signatures. She found Hidan's first. His chakra was fluctuating. She could sense the small amount of fear in him, but most of all she could sense the anger pouring off his body. Which wasn't really a big difference concerning him.

Kai ran off in his direction. It was getting harder and harder to feel her feet beneath her. It was almost like she was flying at this point. In the distance, she could see it. She could him briefly. Strung up by wire and some Leaf shinobi standing before him. Did he even recognize she was coming? Was he expecting her? Did he have some kind of trap? All these questions building up in her head. She needed answers just as badly as she needed to save Hidan.

She decided that instead of running head on, she would attack from behind. Quickly masking her chakra she ran off in the opposite direction. Readying a shuriken in her hand as she approached her target. His hands began moving and it was only then that she noticed the paper bombs that were tagged all over Hidan. He was planning to blow up the immortal man. Kai's normally beautiful and calm face slid into an aggressive snarl and springing from the leaves in the trees she launched the shuriken at the boy's head. He dodged it, which she expected, but it didn't matter because he'd jumped right in front of a clone that kicked him and sent him flying back into a tree.

The original Kai stood away from Hidan's hanging, cursing figure now as she examined the situation. There was a giant whole beneath it, most likely for burial. "Kai! What the fuck are you waiting for!? Get me the hell down from here so I can kill that little son of a bitch!" Hidan yelled at her.

"Really Hidan?" She hissed. "I bet this is probably the same reason you're in this mess! Your stupid hot headedness! You can't ever think before you do something can you!?"

"Are you kidding me right now?! We don't have time for this shit!"

"Who, the heck, are you?" Kai heard. The voice speaking to her now was raspy. Probably the boy recovering from the blow. Kai peered at him from over her shoulder.

"My name is Kai Miashi. I'm Akatsuki, as you can see, and I'm here to save my partner. That's all you need to know." The silvery eyed woman turned and began to slowly approach the dark haired boy. She kneeled in front of him and allowed her eyes to ghost into a stark white. His own brown eyes widened in return.

"W-what is that?!" He gasped.

"This, is my kekkei genkai. The torinnegan. Beautiful, isn't it?" Kai's hand slowly moved towards the boys head. He'd fight back if he could, but he couldn't. He couldn't move his limbs. He was entranced by her. _'Release him'_ her voice echoed in his head. She was entering regions of his mind that he didn't know existed, she was controlling him. She was manipulating him. She stood and he stood with her facing the silver haired Akatsuki member who was smirking smugly. His hand was shakily grabbing a kunai. Was he actually going to let this man go? Apparently he was because he couldn't seem to stop himself as he sliced through the wires.

Hidan fell to the bottom of the pit and whipped his cloak off ridding himself of all the paper bombs. He jumped out of the pit in the ground and grinned at Kai. Boy was he happy to see her. She always seemed to have perfect timing.

While Hidan was marveling over how lucky he was, Shikamaru was reeling about what was to become of him. If he died here, he would never be able to keep his promise to Asuma sensei and look after Kurenai and their child. Was Lady Tsunade right? Was his revenge mission way too soon?

"Shikamaru." She said quietly. "You know of the jinchuriki, Naruto Uzumaki, correct?" Shikamaru found himself shaking his head yes. "I see. Are you friends with this boy?" Once again he found himself nodding. "Right. Then, I will let you live. Only because I made a promise not to hurt Konoha or Naruto. If I were to kill you, I would hurt him. But head my warning Shikamaru. Do not play with my teammates lives again."

"Shikamaru!" Someone screamed. Three pairs of eyes looked to their right, left, and straight ahead of them to notice a pink haired girl and a dark haired, deathly pale boy running straight for them. More Leaf shinobi.

"Stop!" Kai yelled arming herself with a kunai. "Come any closer and I'll kill your friend." It was a bluff, but it wasn't like they knew that.

"What do you want with Shikamaru?" The pink haired girl questioned.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm protecting my partner." The blonde scowled.

"Protecting your partner? That lowlife asshole killed our sensei," she retorted, "he doesn't deserve to live!"

"Aw boo hoo bitch! Fuck you!" Hidan spat. "You little Leaf shinobi keep crying over spilled milk! Get the hell over it! So I killed that ugly bastard, you act like you don't have blood on your hands!" Sakura gasped at the outburst from Hidan. Was he trying to compare her to him? Because screw him if he was. She was nothing like him and how dare he even try to make the match.

"He's right. There is a comparison." Kai said reading the girl's mind. "You kill 'bad' people, because it's your job. We kill people in general because it is our job. We are all just following orders and trying to accomplish a common goal. You kill to keep your village safe, we kill to get what we need to eventually make the world a better place. World peace. Wouldn't that be nice Sakura Haruno? Sai?"

"How did you?"

"I don't have time to explain my visual prowess to you all. Ask Naruto about it, when you return to your village. At this moment, I must save my other teammate. Hidan, let's go. Get your scythe."

XXX

So things weren't quite going the way he'd planned when he got here. His first rasenshuriken had been a fail. Now Naruto was trying to figure out just what the hell he was gonna do. He was beat up, he was tired, his body ached all over, and this guy was strong. What would happen if he couldn't pull it off? Would they all be killed? He couldn't disgrace Asuma like that. He couldn't Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru down. They were counting on him to kill this bastard.

It was settled then. He would do it again. He would play it smarter. He created more shadow clones and faced his opponent head on. The threads completely taking over this man's body now. He was a demon, a monster. But Naruto wasn't going to let that stop him. He didn't even see it coming. The fake out, the overhead attack. The impact. He could feel his rasenshuriken tearing through the flesh of his enemy.

And then he felt a familiar presence. A presence that overwhelmed him with doubt and questioning. Was it her? Had she come back to save this man? Naruto waited for the smoke to clear before he turned around and sure enough standing in the middle of the battle arena was the woman from before. With her, another Akatsuki. Most likely the partner of the Akatsuki he'd just hit. Did this mean Shikamaru, Sakura, and I, were they all dead?

"It's you!" He pointed. The sudden movement made his body quake. That jutsu took a lot out of him. He collapsed to his knees feeling his lids grow heavy. No, it was entirely too soon for him to pass out now.

"Naruto." She said somberly. Even through his haze, he could see her eyes. They were void of emotion this time. No pupils, just white. He dropped his gaze. He knew the sharingan well enough that he figured he probably shouldn't look at her directly either.

"You-you've come to take your friends huh?" He questioned. He knew what her answer was without even needing an answer.

"Indeed I have. I'm sorry that you went through all this trouble, but you'll be leaving empty handed today." Naruto collapsed on his stomach. His chin was the only propping his head up. His vision blurred more. He blacked out as her noticed her hand raising towards his friends. He came back to and noticed the bright light that came from her palm. He blacked out again. He came to one more time to see his friends unconscious and the man picking up Kakuzu while she held his scythe. Then he blacked out for good and they were gone.

XXX

Naruto woke up in the hospital. Tsunade was in his room staring down at him. He could read her eyes. She wanted answers.

"How do you know her?" Was first. Naruto went on to tell her about the confusing night he'd had when she'd appeared out of nowhere and just talked calmly to him.

"What is her name?" Was next. Naruto told her that he didn't know, she'd never told him.

"Why didn't you tell me Naruto?" Was the final question. Naruto didn't know what to say to that at first. After a moment of silence he told the blonde Hokage that he just didn't know how. He didn't know how to make it as innocent as it was without someone thinking he was lying, imagining it, or a traitor because it would be his luck.

"Well, at least you're all okay." Tsunade said.

"Huh? All of us? Even Shikamaru and the others?" He asked. She nodded. "Kakashi sensei? I thought, I saw her, but, granny Tsunade I'm confused. I swear I saw her use some type of jutsu and kill them."

"No. She used a jutsu alright, but she didn't kill them. She just knocked them all unconscious. Shikamaru and the other two were unharmed. Shikamaru just finished telling me about her kekkei genkai before I came to check on you. It's a strong visual prowess, but he doesn't know everything about it. Sakura said that the girl, Kai, Shikamaru called her, told her to question you about it. So spill, what do you know?"

Naruto gulped. He knew he wasn't in any kind of trouble, but just talking about it weirded him out because it reminded him of how out of control he was whenever she was around.

"Her eyes, when they're all white, it's like she's got a mixture of the byukugan, the sharingan, and the mind transfer jutsu from the Yamanaka clan. She can see everything, she can enhance her skills, and she can control your mind." He explained. "But, there's a limit to her ability. If she overuses her eyes she can fall into temporary paralysis and even just using them makes her extremely exhausted and vulnerable." He remembered her words. "I don't imagine she uses them a lot."

"Hm, I see." Tsunade said. Her eyes were closed and she gripped her chin nodding thoughtfully. "It's the torinnegan. When I was younger, I was always told that it was a fable, a myth. What it actually is, is a forbidden eye jutsu belonging to the Miashi clan. It's extremely effective, but the user can only possess these eyes for 30 minutes at a time before undergoing the paralysis which lasts for a total of 15 minutes."

"Hey, granny? Do you know anything about this chick? Anything other than her kekkei genkai?" Naruto asked hoping for answers to some of his own deeper questions.

"Well, I know that she's the rogue ninja that Tsugakure has been searching for, for months now." She informed him. "She's wanted for the murder of their Kikage. Rumor has it, if she isn't found and brought to justice they'll annihilate her entire clan for conspiring with her."

The blonde boy's eyes widened with disbelief. Was she serious? What he was hearing sounded awful. How could they judge a whole clan based on the actions of one person? It wasn't fair.

"Granny Tsunade, you can't let them do that. You can let Tsugakure kill all those innocent people because of her!" Tsunade sighed at the young boy.

"Naruto, there's nothing I can do. It's none of my business and don't you think I've tried? The Kikage just won't listen to reason. He's furious at his brothers' death and he wants them to pay. This doesn't affect the Leaf in any way so I can't get involved. Besides, we've got bigger things to deal with. Like your new jutsu for instance. I examined your body and your chakra network while you sleeping." She stopped there leaving her next statement open. Naruto could feel the anxiety creeping up his throat. What was it? What was she gonna tell him? Whatever it was, he knew it was bad.

"Naruto, I'm afraid I can't allow you to use that jutsu anymore." She said somberly with her head hung. "It's killing you and if you use it again, you'll only continue to shorten your lifespan. I won't allow that to happen Naruto. Do you understand?" The nine tails jinchuriki didn't respond. He was crushed. This new jutsu, the rasenshuriken, it seemed like a sure fire way to finally be stronger than Sasuke. Strong enough to bring him home and now he couldn't even use it. Dammit, why was life so unfair to him?

XXX

Deidara's mood soured immediately upon Kakuzu and Hidan's return. He watched Kai as she worked to heal Kakuzu's injuries slowly. The man seemed to be in a lot of pain to the blonde boy's pleasure. Whatever jutsu that kid had used on him did some serious damage. Kakuzu would out of commission. For a while too. Now there was just the matter of Hidan walking around perfectly fine. Well, not perfectly, but he wasn't in any way too far injured to recover quickly.

If they would both just die, then he wouldn't have to sit back and share his love for Kai with them. It would just be between he and Itachi and everyone knew that Itachi was ill. He would die of his own accord sooner or later. Maybe from sickness, maybe from Sasuke, Deidara didn't care, but he just wanted the older Uchiha gone.

"Hey little girl," Hidan teased, "why don't you make yourself useful and fetch me a fucking sandwich. I'm starving over here."

"Get your own sandwich asshole and I'm not a girl you idiot, hn." Deidara snorted. Kai leered at the two from over her shoulder before turning her attention back to Kakuzu. Deidara didn't care to watch this process any longer. He quickly walked off down the hall and to his room, ignoring Tobi's cries to spend time with him along the way.

When he entered the room, Sasori was seated on the floor cleaning one of his newest puppets. The short blonde dropped to the floor next to him most ungracefully and began watching the puppet master. It took all of 2 seconds for Sasori to get upset with him for staring.

"Oh c'mon Sasori, my man. I just wanna watch, hn. Nothing interesting going on out there anyways." Deidara smirked.

"Nothing interesting? I find Kai's healing techniques quite interesting." Sasori didn't have a soft spot for Kai like his younger counterpart, but he acknowledged the girls power and strength. After all, it was her who reanimated him after his defeat at the hands of the pink haired kunoichi from the Hidden Leaf and Granny Chiyo.

"Whatever. It's only interesting when she's healing cool people like you…or me. Never anyone else."

"Really Deidara," Sasori sighed, "you sound like a child throwing a tantrum. Grow up. She's in love with Itachi anyways."

"So screw him too. What does she see in him anyways? He's like…a grandpa or something! There's nothing interesting about him, he doesn't do anything cool, he doesn't appreciate good art, he's an idiot! Hmph, I have so much more to offer her, hn."

"Other than your sexual desires, what can you offer her?" Deidara's eyes narrowed towards the messy red haired man/boy. Sasori was always a critic. He was a critic of Deidara's fighting style, he was a critic of Deidara's art, he was a critic of his hair and he was a critic of his 'uproarious' behavior.

"Happiness, hn." He bit. The blonde believed the words very much too. He wasn't as oblivious as everyone seemed to think he was. He was very observant and he paid attention to the little details that others overlooked. He could tell the difference between Kai's fake laugh and her real laugh. He could tell her slight body signals that described when she was happy, sad, pissed, horny, annoyed, bored, or when she just didn't give a crap. Whenever she was with him, she was only ever happy. She never fake laughed and she never seemed like she was uncomfortable.

There were numerous times, that he'd kept track of, where she would be watching television with Zetsu and would shift uncomfortable in her spot when he'd start talking about being hungry or when his dark side would argue with his light side. Or like the time when Sasori looked at her and outright told her that she would make a wonderful puppet to add to his collection.

There was also the time when Kisame had tried making a series of jokes that no one was laughing at, and out of sympathy, she stood there with him and laughed at them all no matter how stupid they were. He could even see the slight twitch of her eye when Tobi started to really work her nerves, unfortunately then he would apologize and claim to be a good boy and her mood would change and she would instantly forgive him for his annoying childlike tendencies, but fact of the matter was, she never got angry or annoyed with Deidara. She never had to fake her emotions and she trusted him. They had a bond. A bond that he coveted. A bond that he wouldn't give up for anything.


	5. Promises and Wrong Doings

Disclaimer: No matter how hard I wish, I will never own Naruto or any of the other characters. Just Kai, any my little OC village!

Chapter 5: The Boy Who Makes A Lot of Promises and The Man Who Realized He Was Wrong

Author's Note: In this chapter, you will see a very OOC side of Itachi.

Tsunade's eyes never wavered off of the Tsugakure ninja that were standing before her. One, the sensei. She was a tall woman with brown eyes and long straight back hair with bangs. Next to her, two, the first student. He was also tall, with shoulder length light blue hair and brown almond shaped eyes. Next to him, three, the second student. A shorter male with scraggly black hair and hawk like red eyes. And finally, next to him, four, the third student. A female, who stood mid height between the two boys. She had shoulder length brown hair and pale blue eyes. The four of them looked weary, no doubt they had obviously been traveling for days.

A knock sounded through the big, wooden double doors. "Lady Tsunade, they've arrived." The guard announced. Tsunade nodded and the man opened the door and in stepped Team 7 and Team 10. The four guests that stood in the center turned towards the new people in the room and there was an empty silence floating amongst them all.

"Thank you all for coming." Tsunade said grabbing everyone's attention. "Naruto. You'll remember that we spoke briefly about the Tsugakure ninja in the Akatsuki correct? Kai Miashi." He nodded hesitantly. "Well, as you can all see, these four ninja are also from Tsugakure and they're here to question you about the encounter you had with her last week. You'll all answer your questions to the best of your abilities and we'll move forward from there."

The eight Leaf shinobi nodded and followed through with Tsunade's orders. Each of the Tsugakure nin introduced themselves and questioned them individually.

"When you made contact with missing ninja, what did she look like?" Takami asked.

"Long hair."

"Silvery blue eyes."

"No visible scars on the face or hands."

"When you made contact with the missing ninja, did she say or do anything that is abnormal for Akatsuki?"

"She let us live."

"When you made contact with Miashi, did she tell you anything of significance? Anything that seemed odd under the circumstances?"

"Not really."

"I didn't speak much to her."

"She said we were all the same."

"When you made contact with Kai, did she seem under duress? Were her movements fluid and natural?" Naruto noticed the way this girl questioned him. The other two, the woman and the red eyed boy, they'd spoken about Kai as if she weren't a person they knew, just an enemy target. She was detached from them. The blue haired boy, he acknowledged their history by giving her, her last name at least, but this girl. She called her by her first name and Naruto could tell the emotion wrapped around her words. It's like she was begging him to say 'they had a kunai to her throat.'

"You know her don't you?" She looked up at him.

"Please just, a-answer the question." She stuttered.

"Ya know, your eyes, they kind of look like hers. Sad. She looked sad. That's the most defining characteristic about her. Not her hair, not any scars that she may or may have had, not the color of her eyes, _just_ the look in her eyes. I made contact with her once before. She found me on the training grounds. She told me she was gathering intelligence on Konoha and she sat down and she sympathized with me. She made me feel like I wasn't alone when I thought I was, which was weird because I had never met her and she _is_ supposed to be the enemy. Did she tell me anything significant? Yea. She told me about her childhood and the last time I saw her, she apologized for whatever it is she did to my teammates and she apologized for taking those two other Akatsuki bastards with her. She- she wasn't forced to protect them. I believe she did it by choice. She told me they were her friends, that they shared a common goal and she actually see's the good in them."

Naruto's words left them all in silence. He seemed adamant about defending this woman. Whoever she was, whatever she's done, it wasn't his concern. His concern now was explaining to these people that he didn't believe in the evil that she was being accused of.

"I don't know her personally, definitely not as well as you, or any of you, do, but what I do know is that she's nice. She's a misguided soul who can't leave that dark place because if she goes back to her village, or to any village, they'll kill her. I mean, that's why you're here right. To get your facts right so you can find her, and kill her?"

"You don't understand." The brown haired girl frowned. "It's her life, or my clan's life. Don't you think I know this about my own sister? I know she's not some cold hearted murderer, but I can't prove that because what's done is done and there's no bringing the Kikage back and there's no real proof as to why in the world she would throw everything away by killing him! He was a good man who punished the wrong man and died for it! And now, they've placed the fault on my head. To do two impossible things! Turn my back on my own sister or turn my back on everyone who's looking for me to save their lives right now!"

"What kind of village do you people live in where they kill off clans because of the mistake of one person!?" Naruto shouted back. The two of them locked eyes in a death glare. Who was he? Who was he to try and make her feel shittier than she already did? Did he think she enjoyed being handed missions like this? It's not like she had an actual choice!

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed. "Knock it off! This has nothing to do with you!" Naruto's fists clenched into tight balls by his side. He could feel that familial rage inside him. The rage he got whenever he felt injustice happening.

"Fine." He hissed. "I'll make it my business. I _will_ find Kai, and I _will_ find out the truth about Tsugakure and your precious Kage and I _will_ prove that she's innocent and when I do, she'll leave Akatsuki and she'll at least have a safer, a better place to call home here in Konoha!" Tsunade stifled back a gasp. Naruto was making promises she didn't think he could keep. The details were already spotty on the Kikage's assassination, but she'd met him before. She'd been one of the firsts to accept him into the summit and add his village as a powerhouse.

"Well." Ayame breathed taking a few steps away from the blonde haired shinobi. "Naruto. I'll hold you to that. If you find her, and you can prove her innocence, then I'll be the first to apologize." Naruto smirked at the girl and gave her the good guy pose.

"I will! Believe it!"

XXX

Today was a particularly cold day for a sick man to be out and about searching for jinchuriki, but when you align yourself with the Akatsuki, that's what you have to do and so Itachi was doing it. With Kai, his loyal stalker, following ever so safely behind him..

Not that he felt as though he needed her, but Kisame was away and Pein thought it better to have the two of them go together so they could finish quicker. Kai was internally thrilled and externally content with the situation. Itachi was content as she perceived it.

"Hey Ita, do you think we'll find this tailed beast soon? I've been very sleep deprived lately." Kai sighed.

"Do not rush this Kai, we can not afford to make mistakes. Besides, staying up late every night is your decision." Itachi responded. Kai narrowed her eyes at him.

"I know that, but sometimes I can't help it."

"You can always help it. You're the only one who can make those types of choices." He countered.

"Types of choices?" She questioned. "Ugh, yea we can not get philosophical right now? I'll make better life choices later, I promise."

"Kai, when you're making these choices, remember the word 'no.' It still exists, in case you didn't know." And then she paused while the taller man kept walking. No? Was he talking about her sexual escapades?

"What do you mean 'it still exists?' Are you calling me a whore Itachi?"

"I merely noticed that you either don't know how to say it or you just weren't aware that it was still a word."

"So you _are_ calling me a whore!?" She yelled. "Hey! You look at me when you're insulting me Uchiha!" Itachi finally stopped walking and he turned to regard the woman.

"So," he said, "we're on a last name basis? How odd, I thought you considered me a friend."

"Yeah well my friend wouldn't call me a slut and act all nonchalant about it!"

"I believe the term we'd chosen to go with was 'whore' and I believe that if we are to be true friends then we have to be completely honest with each other. You going to bed to with three different men almost every night while claiming love and affection for a fourth is very whorish my friend." Kai's pretty eyes widened and her mouth slacked a little. Itachi usually had a way of making anything sound polite when he used that voice and that fancy grammar of his. But there was no making this sound polite. It hurt.

Just because she enjoyed her frivolous activities didn't make her a whore, did it? It'd not like she was claiming serious relationships with them all, and she and Kakuzu barely ever hooked up anymore. It was a lopsided balance between Hidan and Deidara with Hidan on the higher scale thanks to his brashness and need for excessive cursing and violence if Deidara tried to get too close.

The only one she actually wanted to be with was Itachi, but he'd made it clear before- and again now- that he didn't want her. With all the other complications in her life, it made her feel empty and hollow. She needed the feeling of want. To know that someone wanted her. Without judgement, without ridicule, and Deidara and Hidan, and Kakuzu at one point, did that for her.

"How long have you felt this way Itachi?" She muttered. The long haired Uchiha stared at her blankly before turning his gaze towards the ground. The dirt was beautiful this time of year.

"Approximately the moment that it became clear to me that you were having affairs with half of out organization." For an instance it felt like he'd just burned her with the Amaterasu. Targeted towards her heart. Kai could feel her old instincts coming back. Like when she was younger and she would get really sad, to keep herself from crying she would gnaw on her bottom lip and even then she would still cry. She was doing it now and she already felt the first few threatening tears just taunting her.

"Itachi-" was all she could manage before she choked up. "The aftermath of her decisions had never occurred to her. She'd never thought them through or anything. She always figured that if she and Itachi did get together she would just leave the others behind, which she still would, but she didn't think about this. She didn't anticipate or prepare herself for it. "I-is this why you-"

"Want nothing to do with you romantically? Yes." Kai squeezed her eyes shut and began trying to steady her breathing. She wiped at her face with the back of her hand. Did he really have to be so cruel about it? Did nobody teach him social cues or just the basics of social interaction at all?

"But I- Itachi." She was at a loss for what to say.

"Do not cry Kai. I never said anything about your personality…or your looks. You're a beautiful girl with a beautiful soul, but you're tainted." God would he just shut up already?

"How the fuck am I supposed to 'untaint' myself for you then!? Do you want me to stop messing around with Deidara and Hidan? Because I can! They don't mean anything to me romantically."

For the first time since their talk began, the man was quiet. The blonde didn't like it. She didn't like that now he had nothing to say when she needed him to say something the most.

"Ita-kun." She pleaded throwing the honorific onto his name to express how badly she wanted him to say something.

"Enough Kai, come on. You said you were sleepy so let's get on with the mission so you can rest." Itachi turned back and began walking again. So that was it. She knew there was no need to press it further. Or at least not now at least. She was not going to give up, she refused to give up now. It was then that she made it her personal mission to let go of Deidara and Hidan and focus her attention solely on Itachi. Sucking up the last of her tears, she quickly walked after him and fell into step beside of him. She felt a lot smaller than she usually did and she knew it wasn't because he'd hit an unusual growth spurt over night. It was because he just cut her down about a good two inches.

For the majority of their walk, she said absolutely nothing and neither did he. They were approaching the land of lightning now where they would find their jinchuriki target. Everything was going smoothly until Itachi was overwhelmed by one of those coughing spells. Only this one was worse than they usually were. It was loud and bloody and it worried Kai. In Between asking him if he was fine and begging him to let her heal him and ease the pain, the noise had drawn the attention of unwanted visitors.

Itachi instructed Kai to scatter and hide herself. She refused. In his current state he was in no fighting condition. His breathing had become labored and she could hear the sickness in it. It was thick with illness. Kai looked back and forth between the two cloud ninja that were headed straight for them and Itachi who had doubled over to his knees. Kai helped her partner back up to his feet placing his arm on her shoulders for support and managed to narrowly dodge an array of shuriken engulfed with lightning. She took the trees leaning the Uchiha against the trunk. Without even a second thought she removed the straw hat from her head. Summoning her wind chakra around the edges of the hat she launched it at one of the ninja and in one clean sweep his head was detached from his body.

"Itachi, you're in too much pain to move. Stay here while I finish off the last one." Without waiting for his response the woman jumped back down to the ground and commenced to combat with the other shinobi.

Inside Itachi was reeling. He'd never felt so weak and so…embarrassed in his life. Having a woman protect him, and not just any woman, but the woman he'd just insulted and had in tears only moments ago? Was this how Kai felt when he was laying into her about her antics? Peering down at her through the leaves he watched her deliver a hard punch to the face of the cloud nin and then jump back to form the hand signs to one of her various jutsu.

She'd shed tears of pain because he'd rejected her-again- harshly and now she was protecting and defending him? Where was her woman's scorn? From the day he first found her, he knew something was different about her. She stood out, and it wasn't just because her hair and skin was all the color of her blood and her body was so exhausted of chakra that shouldn't have been able to move. It was because of the very determination and ambition that she used to make herself move. Her will to live. It amazes him. It peaked his curiosity in her.

It made him want to tell her things that he hadn't relayed to anyone else, except Kisame in riddles. She was the first woman he'd taken interest in since his lover back in the Leaf, the same one he killed. He liked this girl. He liked Kai Miashi and he'd ridiculed her not to be a good friend, but because he was angry with her for giving herself to someone else. He'd only realized this now as he watched her kill for him. Without hesitation. And the next thing he realized was that now, other than Sasuke, he had two people to apologize to.


	6. The First Believer and The Lost Love

Chapter 6: The First Believer and the Lost Love

Disclaimer: No matter how hard I wish, I will never own Naruto and the others, they all belong to Kishimoto. I only own Kai and my little OC village!

Leave it Naruto wanting to go on some type of revenge justice mission that had Team 7, Team 10, and Team 8 up at the ass crack of dawn. Normally, they wouldn't have this many people on a mission, pregnant Kurenai and late Asuma excluded, but Team 10 refused to not be a part of the Akatsuki Search mission and well Team 8 was full of tracker and sensory ninjas that they desperately needed if they wanted to find this infamous Kai Miashi.

Sakura Haruno was against this mission for the most part. She thought Naruto was getting in over his head again and this time there was no turning back. Obviously this woman was strong. She was advanced far beyond any of their levels and if Naruto couldn't use his strongest jutsu, just what in the world was he gonna possibly do to defend himself if a fight ensued? And if she used her dojutsu? Well, they were all done for. Either way, like a good teammate, she stuck by his side and agreed to go. She imagined they would probably need her medical expertise and her strength even. She would make herself useful on this mission.

The last that any of them had heard was of a mysterious murder of two Kumogakure ninja who were on border duty. The tell-tale straw hat of the Akatsuki was left behind and this is what put the Leaf shinobi enroute to the land of lightning. It also helped knowing that one of their jinchuriki had been taken weeks prior.

Sakura had never really been to land of lightning, but she'd always heard it was a beautiful place. Full of clouds and the ninja there were skilled. Although, in her opinion, no place would ever be as powerful or as amazing as Konoha, but this wasn't the time to input her opinions on village decency.

By the time the 11 of them arrived it was late evening and no one was surprised to see the added security. After Kakashi and Yamato exchanged brief words with one of the guards, they were all led to Raikage's tower. The Raikage himself was a big man. All Sakura really saw were muscles, muscles everywhere. He wore a long white cloak with heavy gold weights around his arms and a gold belt around his waist. He had on black pants were adorned with a hunter green sash and he wore red and white leg warmers under them with black sandals. He really was an intimidating figure.

"Lord Raikage, we thank you for allowing us to come and speak with you." Kakashi spoke.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan," the Raikage began, "I have to say that I'm surprised you all requested to see me. A group of Tsugakure ninja came through here the other day in regards to the murder of kidnapping of my people. If you're also tracking this Tsugakure traitor, then why aren't you with them?"

"Well, you see Lord Fourth, Naruto here believes that there may be more to the assassination of Tsugakure's third Kikage."

"More to it huh? You, boy! Naruto, come and tell me what more you believe there is." He exclaimed pointing a mighty finger towards Naruto. Said boy hesitated for a moment, before moving himself forwards to the bigger man. Steeling his facial expression and making sure that what was preparing to come out of his mouth were actual words and not vomit, he spoke.

"I don't actually know what's going or what happened all that time ago, but I know that something isn't right. And it may sound stupid or far-fetched because I have no actual proof except for what I've seen and heard, but I don't believe she's guilty of committing an actual crime." Naruto said. The Raikage stared at the boy before picking up a stray weight on his desk and proceeding to do arm curls.

"No actual proof?" He muttered. "But you believe, she's innocent. Are you suggesting…some type of scandal is going on in Tsugakure boy?" Naruto gulped.

"Well, would you kill a whole clan for the wrong doings on two people? Because I wouldn't, unless I was trying to hide something." The Raikage's arm stopped and his face formed a hard expression. Naruto matched his gaze. He wasn't going to back down no matter what.

"Do you know what happened in Tsu seven months ago?" Naruto and many others, except Kakashi and Yamato, shook their heads. "Nine months ago. A man. Shiori Miashi, was executed for treason and attempting to start a war between the five, now six, great shinobi nations. His executor was the second Kikage, the older brother to the third and now active Kikage. Seven months ago, the second Kikage disappeared. It wasn't until they recovered his body that they realized he'd gone to rendezvous with the accused, Kai Miashi, where he lost his battle and was killed. After examining his body, they discovered that what led to his death was a rare type of poison. A poison that kills it's victims within 5 minutes of exposure.

This poison has only ever been found on the tip of a steel spike that sits on a wooden pillar and is a part of the Miashi clan's '5 Pillars of Death' forbidden jutsu. Now, it's said that this woman, the niece of the man that was executed killed the Kikage in revenge of her uncle's death. My questions is, if she was so powerful to have taken down the Kikage, all by herself, then why did she not just carry out his plan and begin with the destruction of Tsu? And if her whole clan was involved, why didn't they begin the destruction while she was fighting the Kage?"

Sakura gasped. "B-because they weren't."

"My thoughts exactly." The Raikage said while shifting in his seat. "It never sat right with me. The whole Tsugakure thing. That or their village. Bringing down that shield after all that time and wanting to converge with the rest of us. I met the second once before and he seemed like a two-timing bastard."

"So-so you believe me!?" Naruto exclaimed feeling relief wash over his body.

"It's not a matter of whether I, just one Kage believe you. If you want action and an investigation you'll need the other five Kage's to agree that something in the land of energy is fishy. I am calling a summit to discuss the Akatsuki matters and how to deal with them now that Yugito Nii, one of our Jinchuriki's has been taken and two of our shinobi murdered. I have no problems bringing up the matter there."

"Alright!" Naruto cheered. He couldn't help but to feel some type of happiness. After all his strife during these last few weeks, something good was finally happening.

"Naruto. I figure, you aim to save this woman. Correct?" The man asked.

"Well-yeah. She's innocent if the Kikage was a bad guy."

"That may be true. She may be innocent in that aspect," Sakura spoke now, "but do not forget, she's aligned herself with the Akatsuki. She's killed innocent people Naruto. She can't be forgiven for those crimes."

"But that-," Naruto stopped, he didn't know how to defend that one. He didn't think it was fair. If her village had never been up to dirty tricks, she would have never been put in that position.

"Fine, so you've got a point, but all I'm asking is that you keep in mind, that she possibly saved all of us from a war that we could have lost." That was what he was going to hang onto. She was innocent, Tsu was sketch, and he would help her find justice.

XXX

Have you ever found yourself in a position so awkward that you start dreaming about how death is such a better option than continuing on the path you're currently taking? That was me, right now. As soon as Itachi and I had reached the lair I took him to his room and put him to sleep. Then I immediately went after Deidara and Hidan to start my mission. Mission, prove my love to Itachi by righting my wrongs. Of course I couldn't make myself an actual virgin again, but I could become a born again virgin by being celibate.

What I didn't expect was for them to actually care. No, I expected Dei to care, just not as much, and I just didn't expect Hidan to care at all. Yet, here they were. Deidara looked on the verge of tears and Hidan was currently looking for his pike to go and perform a ritual on Itachi.

"Hidan," I sighed again, "please just, calm down. You're blowing this all out of proportion. Itachi isn't making me do this. I'm _choosing_ to do this."

"So you're actually choosing Itachi over me, hn?" Deidara asked. I was starting to actually feel bad for him. He looked like the cutest little heartbroken puppy.

"Deidara, I, I'm sorry. You'll always be special to me, but I just, I feel more of a connection with him." I apologize. "One that doesn't involve his penis anywhere near my person." I added when he opened his mouth to object.

"Kai, I swear to Lord Jashin, if I find out you hid my fucking pike I will sacrifice the both of you!"

"Hidan!" I exclaimed.

"No! You don't get the privilege of screaming my name anymore you bitch!" The Jashinist screamed at me before storming off, hopefully not to Itachi's room. I looked back at Deidara whose expression had gone from solemn to hateful.

"I can't believe you, hn. All the time we spent together. If you knew you didn't feel the same way about me, why did you let me fall for you? Kind of a jackass move Kai!" The blonde boy yelled.

"Deidara please wait." But it was too late. He was already gone. I sighed and turned around to come face to face with Pein. Great.

"What now?"

"You left your hat." He said in his deep monotone voice.

"What?"

"Your straw hat. The one you killed that Kumo nin with. You left it."

"Ugh, fuck, look, I'm sorry alright. I was just trying to get Itachi-"

"Kai. When you join a criminal organization filled with men who sometimes go without sex for months, and sleep with them on a regular basis, you can't just expect them to handle the…'break-up' well."

"Are you serious right now?" I just stared at him, and he just stared at me.

"Yes." He finally said. "If Itachi sets Hidan on fire…and he melts away…or if he traps Deidara in a Tsukuyomi…it's on your head. Now, Zetsu has been following the Leaf shinobi and they're after you along with a team from Tsugakure. Come with me and Konan to Amegakure for the time being. I don't want them finding you."

"I understand. I guess I deserve the break and it would be nice to see Konan again."

XXX

Deidara was baffled to say the least. How could this have happened? He saw all the signs, he felt the connection. Then again, that was probably the problem. It was all one sided. She didn't see anything. She didn't feel anything. She didn't love him the way he loved her. It was all about Itachi. Itachi this and Itachi that. And all this business about Sasuke killing Orochimaru? Well, fuck them both. Damn those Uchiha's to Hell.

He wanted Itachi to suffer, to pay. He knew it was Itachi's goal in life to fight his younger brother to the death. So why not steal it from him the way Itachi stole his woman? He was on his way to find the young boy now, unfortunately, Tobi had tagged along. The annoying man wouldn't stop babbling about how excited he was to be along on this journey to kill an Uchiha. Deidara was trying to refrain from blowing him to pieces. He needed to save all his clay for his battle. He would _not_ lose to another Uchiha.

XXX

Hidan stormed into his room, slamming the door shut behind him, and sprawled himself out on his bed. When he joined the Akatsuki he hadn't planned on falling for anyone yet here he was feeling shitty about himself for losing Kai.

At first it had just been a sexual thing, but as time progressed with her, he realized it wasn't just about the sex anymore. He found solace in her company. He found more things to like about her than just her body or the way she shivered at his touch. It was more than her moaning and mewling. It was the sound of her voice. It was always raspy and scratchy sounding and on anyone else he would have hated it. He probably would have killed them for it. But on her, it sounded natural and attractive. It was the adorable way her cute little nose would scrunch up when she smiled. The way her cheeks would go red when she got cold and she'd snuggle up next to him for his warmth.

He'd fallen for her random moments of complete insanity or her random moments of utter bitchiness. He reveled in her philosophical outlook on life. The fact that she was so complex, that there were so many sides of her and Hidan just wanted to love them all. He wanted them to love him. It was hard to find someone to accept you, let alone love you when you worship a God that required an almost daily sacrifice to grant you his powers of immortality.

With Kai, when he would talk to her about Jashin, she would listen. She found it interesting and strangely beautiful. Not in the sense that she herself would ever become a worshipper of that religion, but it didn't bother her. Or at least that's what he thought. Itachi, didn't go around killing people for someone he had never and would never meet. Itachi was smart. Itachi, didn't always spew sentences with curse words in all of them. Itachi, wasn't the silver haired, massacring, dumbass, psychotic, unlovable, loud mouth that Hidan was. And he never would be.

XXX

Naruto and his team had settled in a small village for the night to rest. He was exhausted. Trying to find all the Akatsuki hideouts was ridiculous and time consuming. Luckily for them, the Raikage had already had quite a few of them searched in order to find Yugito. Unfortunately for him, he never found her and after searching almost six of them, they pulled out.

Now Naruto found himself staring at the window and looking down onto the people walking around. As if these people would just one by one look up at him and give him all the answers he needed. Like, what could Tsugakure possibly be trying to keep the Miashi's quiet about? Or, why didn't Kai just run to the next biggest village and scream liar? Or maybe even, what the hell was that bright light from earlier? It was almost blinding.

Never in his wildest dreams did he think he'd be playing detective, but if one thing was for sure, he didn't necessarily like it. Not to mention, he could just tell how annoying Sakura found this whole thing. It was side tracking him from Sasuke and that meant that it would only be a longer wait before she saw him again. Held him again.

Naruto sighed and plopped back down onto his mattress. Today had been a long day and he was so tired. All this thinking could wait, for now, all he wanted to do was sleep.


	7. Catching Up To Revenge

Chapter 7: Catching Up To Revenge

Disclaimer: No matter how hard I wish, I will never own Naruto or the others, they all belong to Kishimoto. I only own Kai and my little OC village!

Author's Note: I don't necessarily like this chapter, the events are moving fast to illustrate the rush, the angst, and the importance of everything happening here.

"Kiba!" Naruto exclaimed in a panic. "Where did you catch the scent last?"

"Ugh, it was all convening in one location, but now, it's like it's everywhere." Kiba told the blonde. When the sun had risen so had Kiba and Akamaru with news of a familiar scent in their air. Sasuke's scent. Which meant he was close by, which meant they were all hauling ass through the forest now trying to find him. They were scattered out searching high and low, but so far they hadn't seen a single sign of him.

"There's a small scent straight ahead!" Kiba told Naruto. The two boys and the dog dashed off along the trees only to find a shred of Sasuke's shirt hanging from a branch. A ploy. Naruto didn't have time for games. In between tracking two almost impossibly hard to find people, he had to be quick on his feet. He created a horde of clones that instantly scattered themselves across the length of the forest. Snatching strips of clothing and poofing back to the original with the message. Nothing, nothing, and more nothing.

"Dammit! How is he this close and still out of my reach!?"

"Don't worry Naruto, the clones are working, the scents not as spread out as it was before." The brown haired Inuzuka boy told his friend.

Sakura couldn't stop the racing of her heart. This was it. This had to be it. They were so close. They would find Sasuke and they would bring him home. And that would be the end of it. No more cat and mouse.

On the other hand, Kakashi wasn't so sure that this was going to be the day they brought Sasuke home. It seemed to easy this way. Sasuke wasn't going to give up and let himself get caught. The timing for this just didn't seem right.

XXX

Damn that blonde Akatsuki. This was his fault. If he hadn't been so set on fighting Sasuke, they wouldn't have been in that damned village and they wouldn't be trying to outrun the Leaf now. And in his current condition, this running was agitating him. He hadn't fully recovered from his last fight.

"Sasuke!" He knew that voice. That loud, boisterous voice. Naruto. He unsheathed his katana blade and crossed the ear with one clean slice. The Naruto poofed and disappeared. A shadow clone.

XXX

"I found him!" Naruto yelled. Naruto ran off ahead of Kiba in pursuit of Sasuke.

"Yo! Naruto wait!" Kiba called, knowing full well Naruto was not going to wait. Kiba pondered about whether or not he should go after Naruto, or whether he should alert the others. If he did go after Naruto and Sasuke managed to kick both their asses…well, that wouldn't be good. And not the mention the other tree scents that were with him. There was no telling what kind of people Sasuke had surrounded himself with. Then again, if he left Naruto all alone to face the four of him, there was no guarantee that Kakashi sensei and Yamato could get to him in time. Dammit Naruto! Why did he have to be such a hot head!?

XXX

To say that Naruto was surprised is to say the least. He'd remembered the last encounter he'd had with Itachi Uchiha. It hadn't been a very good one. So why was he here now? Was he really going to try and kidnap him _right now_? Why was he all alone? He remembered Granny Chiyo's words and he immediately averted his gaze.

"What do you want Itachi," he yelled, "I don't have time for your mind games! I have to find Sasuke!"

"Sasuke." Itachi stated plainly. "What is your obsession with my foolish little brother?"

"What do you mean? He's my best friend."

"Your best friend. Naruto, you need to abandon your task right now. You're interfering with things that do not concern you."

"Get lost you creep! I won't let you hurt Sasuke anymore!" Naruto bit shaking his head.

"What if it is not me that has to hurt Sasuke? What if it's you that has to hurt him?" Naruto's head shot up quickly. He was already in a genjutsu. The red and black scenery. Itachi floating above him carelessly.

"What are you going on about? Stop talking in riddles!" Itachi stared blankly at the boy.

"What if, you had to choose between Konoha and Sasuke? Could you do it? Could you kill Sasuke to protect your precious village?" Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. Half of him was sure that it was because he was currently in a genjutsu, but the other half was sure he couldn't believe it because it just sounded crazy. Sasuke would never hurt Konoha. Then again, he was going a bit crazy.

"I wouldn't do it. I would protect Konoha _and_ save Sasuke!"

"Save them both you say? How foolish of you. The day will come when you have to make a decision Naruto Uzumaki, and only then when you're faced with acting on that decision will you truly know your answer."

XXX

Sasuke wasn't quite sure why, but Naruto and the others had seemingly stopped pursuing him, or at least they'd lost track of him long enough for him to slip away from their grasp. Now he could get back to his task. Killing Itachi. He was totally and completely ready for this. He knew the rendezvous point. He knew the dangers, he knew what he had to do. Yeah, he was one hundred percent ready for this. Or was he? He would never openly admit it, but there was a small piece of him that was cowering in fear. The small boy that he used to be. The small boy that had never truly opened his eyes to the real Itachi. The small boy who stilled cried out for his big brother some nights.

The new Sasuke was smothering that boy now. The last thing he needed to do was choke up and freeze during the middle of their fight. Still, he couldn't quite shake the feeling that he was preparing to do a terrible thing. Even as he stared down the large blue man who was to stand guard to ensure that this fight went uninterrupted. Even as he walked past his teammates, Suigetsu who was being Suigetsu, Jugo who, even though he wanted to go with Sasuke, was quietly staying put, and Karin who wore a face of confidence for Sasuke. A face that masked the one he wore despite the difference that hers was real.

' _Get a grip Sasuke. It's now or never.'_

 _XXX_

Kisame plastered a wide sharp toothed grin across his face as he stared at the three teens before him. One tall, rather large boy with orange hair, one tall sassy looking red head, and then the younger Hozuki brother. What a peculiar bunch.

"Well, well, if it ain't Kisame Hoshigaki." Suigetsu purred. "And oh look babe," he added nudging Karin whose faced darkened, "he's got Samehada with him."

"Yea pause, when Sasuke isn't around don't touch me. As a matter of fact, even when Sasuke is around, touch me _as little as possible_. Freak."

"Wait, what did you just say?" Jugo gasped.

"Hey c'mon Karin! You're blowing it!" Suigetsu exclaimed.

"Oh shut up! I'm perfectly convinced that once Sasuke kills this guy, he'll be ready to settle down with me. I can totally wait a couple more minutes, beats continuing to pretend like I'm shacking up with you." Karin shrugged.

' _What the hell?'_ Kisame thought.

"Sasuke and I- this whole time we thought you two were- ewe." Jugo grimaced. "No offense Karin, but you can do so much better than Suigetsu."

"I know right? Besides, Suigetsu's too public for me."

"Too public?" Suigetsu frowned. "What the heck does that mean?"

"You like to do that whole public display of affection stuff, I don't like it. You do it too much. It's annoying. I'd rather keep it all behind closed doors." Silence. Crickets. More silence.

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with there this conversation seems to be headed." Kisame stated.

"Hold it fish face," Suigetsu exclaimed throwing a hand up to Suigetsu, "Karin, I have to admit, I think I was actually starting to like the whole you and I dating thing."

"Yea right Suigetsu!" The red head yelled. "You only liked the whole 'servant' portion of the deal!" Suigetsu pulled out his water bottle and slurped on his straw for a moment.

"So? That's the best part of this whole thing." Karin deadpanned and smacked the bottle out of his hand. Suigetsu frowned and glared at the red head and proceeded to insult her on her looks and everything else he found annoying about her as a way of payback.

Kisame watched hesitantly as a fight proceeded between the two with the red head winning. If these were the people Sasuke surrounded himself with, Kisame was sure that Itachi would come out of this battle within minutes, possibly unscathed.

XXX

Sasuke couldn't believe it. After all his efforts, after practically crushing Itachi, the man just wouldn't die. He was exhausted. He didn't have enough chakra for any other moves. He no longer had his curse mark. He had no escape plan as he elder brother walked towards him. His right arm extended, fingers ready to snatch out Sasuke's eyes. How had he managed to talk himself into this? All he felt now was fear. Total and absolute fear. He didn't want to die here, not like this. He hadn't avenged his clan, he hadn't made Itachi pay for his crimes. He had abandoned his friends. He'd caused Naruto and Sakura so much grief. He'd failed Kakashi sensei as a student. And for what? For this pathetic death. To be killed by a man who could barely stand up straight.

Sasuke found himself backing up into the wall more and his eyes screwed themselves shut and then, then he felt two fingers on his forehead and his eyes snapped open. Itachi either had impeccably bad aim right now or he intentionally poked him in the forehead. The same way he did when they were children. When Itachi was playing the good brother. When he was pretending to care about Sasuke, _pretending_ right?

"Forgive me Sasuke." Itachi whispered. His lips curled into a soft smile. "But there won't be a next time." And then it snapped. His heart.

"Itachi!"


	8. Death is Nobody's Friend

Chapter 8: Death is Nobody's Friend

Disclaimer: No matter how hard I wish, I will never own Naruto or the others, they belong to Kishimoto. I only own Kai and my little OC village.

Author's Note: This chapter is very short, and it's also very sad. Or maybe that's just my opinion, I don't know, let me know what you guys think! R&R please!

She had yet to move from her spot. It had been almost three hours and Konan could tell that the woman was in pain and tired, but she knew that she wasn't going to move. At least she'd stopped shaking finally. And her sobs had quieted down too. She'd cried so much that she could've possibly washed all the blood off his body. She wasn't _only_ crying for him though. She was also crying for the loss of her other friend. Of Deidara. Deidara and Itachi.

It had been a sad thing for Konan to have to watch as Kai tried again and again to bring back the elder Uchiha, but there was a sheer significant difference from reanimating a puppet versus reanimating an actual human being. And it had been just as sad to watch her break down over the realization that Deidara was never coming back too. And for nothing. His target did not die with him. Instead his target ran off and killed Itachi.

She'd saved so many of them, so many times, but these two she just didn't get to fast enough and it was eating away at her heart. She hadn't even known that Deidara had gone off with Tobi to fight Sasuke. And Itachi, he slipped away from her in the middle of the night. She didn't get the chance to say goodbye to either of them.

Konan had first found her this way when she'd come back to lair when Pein took over her fight against Jiraiya. She'd tried comforting the girl to the best of her abilities, but Konan hadn't comforted someone in so long that she barely knew how anymore. So eventually she'd given up and resulted to watching pitifully in the background. Maybe she should try talking to her again. Nah, she probably didn't have much of a voice left after all the crying she'd done. Still, Konan wanted to do something for her.

She remembered when Kai was first brought to the Akatsuki, on the outside she merely smirked at the girl but on the inside she was truly happy. Sure she had Pein, but it was nice to finally have another female companion around. Konan stood from her chair and slowly walked up behind the girl. She stopped when she was only mere inches away from her and then stared. What next? She shrugged to herself and then timidly wrapped her arms around the woman. It elicited a whole new round of sobs.

"Konan." She cried. "What the hell is wrong with me? Why couldn't I save them? Deidara, he didn't have to die like that. I was so selfish. And Itachi, for God's sake! He saved my life, and I couldn't even do the same for him when he needed me!" Well at least, she'd opened up a bit. Konan hugged her a little tighter. She didn't know what to say. She didn't speak much and when she did it sure wasn't words like 'Shh, don't cry, everything's gonna be okay.' She'd steeled her heart years ago.

"Kai, I-I don't know what to say about Deidara, but as for Itachi. He's happier this way." He was wasn't he?

"But I-he." More sobbing. Konan nuzzled her head into the other girl's back and let her eyes drift shut. She imagined that if Yahiko was still around, or if Nagato could still move, and if she was upset or if one of them was upset, this is what they would do for each other, so that's what she did for Kai and she continued to squeeze and nuzzle until finally the girl stopped crying for good. Konan wasn't sure how long that took, but it didn't matter. She was perfectly content with her objective of making someone else feel better.

XXX

Sasuke had never hated himself more than right now. After waking up in this dark room, and having to sit there and listen to this story about a man that he killed. A man that he thought was evil. A man who turned out to be his greatest hero. He'd smothered that boy too soon. That boy was trying to warn him. Trying to protect him from making the biggest mistake of his life. He couldn't shake the image of Itachi walking to him, with that hand extended. Poking his forward. His last words. That smile. That scream. The way he'd collapsed into the wall and finally down to the concrete where he lay motionless. Dead.

His insides were churning and he felt an overbearing need to throw up. To cleanse his mind. To just rewind time and pretend like it never happened. Oh how he just wanted to be seven years old again. Madara Uchiha had left him here, in this hell hole to wallow in his pain and misery alone. So why did he feel the presence of another person? Why did he feel the warm embrace of another human being? He opened his eyes and saw red. The familial red hair of Karin, who was kneeling in between his legs with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

Why was she coming to him? Why was she here? Why was she always there when he was alone? Cooing in his ear. Stroking his hair. Telling him that it was okay to cry. That she understood his pain. Normally he would've pushed her away. Told her that she was crazy. Denied his tears. But none of that would happen this time. She wasn't stupid and she could see how much pain he was in. They both knew how badly he was just dying for someone to hold him right now, for Itachi to hug him and give him that same smile. So he accepted her hug in place of the one he couldn't have. He wrapped his own arms around her waist and let his tears bear down on her shoulder and in her hair relentlessly.

His body was racked with so much emotion. So much hurt. So much want. And a new emotion that was slowly swelling up to the top. Hatred. Towards the people who'd turned his brother into his enemy. "It's okay Sasuke." Karin whispered. But it wasn't okay. Konohagakure was thriving. Happily living out their lives, while he was left alone again. The elders. They'd gone on their merry ways and just-just let Itachi live his life as a traitor. They let people shame him as if he was a monster. They'd let him think his brother was a monster.

"Karin." He hissed shakily. Karin pulled away from him gently. His hair was covering his face as he stared with crazed eyes down at the ground. "I'm changing my plans. You don't have to come with me, if you don't want to, but I'm going to Konoha. I will _destroy_ Konoha."

She could hear it. She could the emotions mixing around in his voice. It almost scared her a little, but she wasn't going to let that push her away. He needed her right now. He needed a friend. He needed someone to pick him back up. She would be that person for as long as he wanted her to. She hugged him again, nuzzling her face in the crook of his neck.

"I won't leave you Sasuke. Your mission is my mission." She told him. He glanced at her from his peripheral. She truly was devoted to him. Itachi would have liked her.

XXX

After they'd failed to find Kai, or Sasuke, they'd all returned to the Leaf. With the news of Itachi's death hanging over their heads it brought about many emotions. Sakura, along with many others, were hoping that it would finally be over now. Itachi was dead. What left was there? Naruto however, Naruto was being overcome by a whole other emotion. He'd remembered Tsunade's words. The little old frog. Jiraiya was dead. He'd gone off to find out more information about the Akatsuki leader and he died in the process.

And where was Naruto? Chasing after one of those Akatsuki. It was the second time they'd killed someone important to him, but this time. This death, was so much more important. For crying out loud, it was Jiraiya. His mentor. His teacher. The man who'd taken him under his wing. The man who'd taught him so much and still had so much more to teach him. Why? Why did this keep happening to him? Why did he keep losing everyone he loved? He couldn't take this. He couldn't take this much pain. It was tiring. It was killing him, literally killing him.

Here he sat, on this bench, with this twin Popsicle in hand. It was just melting. He didn't have anyone to share it with anymore. He'd never had a father or mother to share it with. And now that Jiraiya was gone, there was no one else. Even now he could feel it slipping from his grasp. Slipping and then appearing in front of him. He brought his gaze up and came face to face with Iruka. His first sensei. The first man who'd taught him something worthwhile.

And he was handing him, the other half of the sicle. "Iruka sensei?" he muttered. He could feel his eyes well up with more tears. That annoying ache in his heart started all over again and then the water just started pouring. He took the ice cream with a shaky hand but he couldn't stop the tears. They were streaming, absolutely free falling. Iruka sat on the bench next to him and placed a meaningful hand on his back. How had he forgotten about this?

How had he forgotten about this man who had always been there for him? "Naruto." He said with comfort in his voice. "It hurts now, and it's gonna hurt for a while, but things _will_ get better. I can't tell you that it'll happen tomorrow, or even the day after, but soon. I promise you that. And until it does, I'm always gonna be here for you. And even after it does, I'll still be here."

It was so easy for Naruto to find some form of hope and comfort in Iruka sensei. Maybe that was because they were the same person. They had always been the same person. So he let himself lean his head on the shoulder of his sensei. He let his eyes drift shut and he let himself think of all the good times he'd had with Jiraiya. The memories. The laughter. It was all there. He would never forget any of it. And that was what was really important right? Now that he was gone, it was important for him to remember his legacy. The legacy of the sennin. The legacy of the man who found Naruto so worth it that it spent two years of his life training this hyperactive, knuckleheaded ninja. It felt good, to be worth it.


End file.
